Risk and Win

by Rameshwar Yadav

For ten long years, Ramesh stood behind the counter of a small, dusty shop where time seemed to sleep. The ceiling fan groaned, the shelves never changed, and his salary always arrived like a weak heartbeat—just enough to survive, never enough to dream. Yet every night, as he walked home under the flickering streetlights, a quiet fire burned inside him.

What if I start my own repair business?
What if I fail?
Fear answered every dream with a question mark.

One evening, the shop owner looked at him with cold certainty and said, “People like us don’t rise. Be satisfied with what you have.”

That sentence struck him like a slap.
That night, sleep refused to visit. He stared at the ceiling and realized the greatest risk was not losing—it was living the same life forever.

The next morning, he made a decision.

He sold his old motorbike—his only luxury. He rented a tiny room with peeling paint. With just a few tools and a handwritten sign, he opened a small repair stall. The first week, only two customers came. The second, five. The third, people returned with friends, saying, “He works with honesty. He doesn’t cheat.”

Slowly, the stall became a workshop. The workshop became a business. Within a year, he hired two assistants and paid better salaries than he once received.

One evening, his old colleague passed by and stared at the bustling shop.
“Weren’t you terrified to take such a big risk?” he asked.

Ramesh wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at his thriving workshop, and smiled.

“I was,” he said. “But I learned something—comfort is the slowest poison. If you never risk, you never win.”